Bad day, bad week
by Cindy Ryan
Summary: spoilers 2x10. Friends stick together even in the worst of times
1. Chapter 1

This one is two chapters :)

Title: bad day, bad week  
Author: Cindy Ryan  
Spoilers: 2x10

It was three in the morning before Andy McNally got a decent lead. She'd had a long bad day herself and should be at Traci's on the hide-a-bed buried under a down comforter. Instead she was out in a newly acquired used car searching for a friend. Andy didn't know what was going on with the three amigos. All she had gotten was a cryptic phone call from Dov and a worried text from Gail stating Chris hadn't come home.  
The fact that neither one was aiding Andy in this search worried her. There had obviously been some kind of argument between the three rookies and Chris had taken the brunt of it.

The Penny had been Andy's first stop and the bartender hadn't seen Diaz. She'd checked the other bars the rookies sometimes went too if the Penny was too crowded but no sign of Chris there either. Plus he wasn't answering her calls or texts which added to Andy's worry.  
Normally she could get a response from him no matter what.

Andy sighed as she carefully maneuvered the snow covered streets. At least this was a distraction from her own problems. Her own day from hell. She still couldn't believe Sam had left on the undercover op without a good bye.  
After everything Andy thought he'd at least give her that much.  
But then she had realized she probably didn't deserve it.  
She'd waited too long to take a chance and Sam had moved on.

Shaking her head to clear it Andy pulled into the medium sized parking lot of the well lit glass and wood two story building near the water front. It was a twenty four hour gym. The largest in Toronto. Not just a gym but boasted a heated pool, sauna, full running track, racquet ball courts and a rock wall. Andy had only seen the commercials on tv and hadn't had a chance to come.  
From what she'd heard from other officers this gym was incredible worth the price of membership. Which Andy was sure was half her pay check.

Trudging up the steps Andy pushed open the glass doors and stepped gratefully into the warm interior.  
A perky brown haired receptionist greeted Andy and she gave the young woman Chris's description. The staff member nodded and said he'd been here for awhile. Andy thanked her and began to scan the sparse crowd.  
In the background Andy heard a walkie-talkie crackle to life.

"Ma'am?"The receptionist called gaining Andy's attention. "One of our staff spotted your friend in the batting cage."

Andy blinked in surprise. This place had a batting cage too, of course it did.  
Probably with state of the art pitching machines and wide screen video screens to track your progress.

"Thanks."McNally replied as the other woman gave her directions.

Up a flight of stairs and down a blue carpeted hallway Andy found the batting cage through a door on the left. She pushed open the gray nondescript door and found a room the size of the station's locker room.  
Eight batting cages lined each wall separated by a ribbon of black mat. Bats, helmets and other equipment hung in lockers on either end of the room.  
As she predicted wide screen monitors showed not only scores but the batter's speed and skill level. Wide screen tvs hung above the equipment monitors portraying twenty-four hour sports networks.  
Five of the cages were occupied. Three on the left and two on the right. Andy spied Chris in the last cage on the right.  
Stifling a yawn Andy trudged toward the end of the room. Chris was wearing dark blue sweat pants and a dark gray t-shirt. His helmet was black.

"You're a hard person to find."McNally stated as she leaned against the metal wire mesh of the cage.

Chris didn't look up as he pummeled another baseball. "Didn't know anybody wanted to find me."

"If you bothered to check your phone tonight you'd know that wasn't true."Andy countered.

"Hard to believe you'd track me down just for Gail's sake."Chris stated angrily.

Andy didn't miss the hurt concealed behind the anger. She'd been there herself all too recently.

"She's not the only one worried."

"What? Dov? My so called friends list is rapidly shrinking."

Andy winced as Chris smashed another baseball against the green matted wall at the other end.

"I was worried too."Andy stated. "You didn't answer any of my calls...not like you."

"Sorry."Diaz replied quietly as he stepped back and hit a button on the control panel on the left side of the cage shutting off the pitching machine.

"You and Gail break up?"Andy inquired gently.

Chris took off the helmet and slumped back against the cage wall. "Dov kissed Gail."

Andy did a double take that was the last thing she'd expected to hear. "What?"

"Yeah that was my reaction too."Diaz replied bleakly.

Looking around Andy noted belatedly that this wasn't the venue for life changing conversations. There had to be somewhere in this gym that had refreshments.

"Come on, let's go talk."McNally urged as she opened the cage door. "There a juice bar in this place?"

"Combined with a twenty-four hour cafe."Diaz replied as he exited the cage and put his equipment away. "Gail gave me a membership for my birthday. Figured I might as well use it."

Andy placed a gentle hand on her friend's right shoulder as they left the batting cages.


	2. Chapter 2

Wow….thanks for all the reviews on this one wasn't expecting it. :) Hope you enjoy the end. :)

Title: Bad day, bad week  
Author: Cindy Ryan  
Spoilers: 2x10

Chris led Andy through the familiar halls of the gym. He'd only been here a few times since Gail had given him the membership. Enough to know his way around. Not enough to have tried every aspect of the gym.  
The thought of Gail made his heart physically hurt.  
He always thought he and Gail had been solid.  
Obviously he was wrong.  
Wrong about a lot of things.

As they entered the cafe decorated in a hockey theme Chris cast a sideways glance at Andy. She looked as bad as he felt. Dark circles under her eyes.  
Bandages on her hands he assumed from the accident that day.  
Diaz mentally kicked himself. He'd been so wrapped up in his own drama he hadn't noticed that anybody else's life had gone to hell too.  
Which is unfortunately the way it looked for Andy.

"Guess I'm not the only one who had a bad day?"Chris inquired as they reached the cashier.

Andy laughed bitterly. "Bad day? Try bad week."

"Sorry."Chris replied and placed his order before turning back to Andy. "What happened?"

Andy sighed and rubbed a hand along the back of her neck. "Leslie, the woman I pulled out of that car today? She didn't make it."

"You did everything you could."Diaz stated gently.

"Yeah that's what everybody says."Andy replied as she placed her order and they moved to the other end of the counter. "She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and ended up dying because of it. Doesn't seem fair."

"Not much is these days."Chris replied darkly as he leaned back against a post suddenly very tired.

Ten minutes later their orders were ready and Andy and Chris picked them up and headed towards a small table in the back. Chris sank gratefully into the wooden chair. He didn't realize how long he'd been in the batting cages until Andy showed up. His muscles were screaming now from the exertion.

Andy took a sip of her strawberry smoothie. "So...you and Gail?"

Chris absently stirred his mango smoothie with the straw as he shook his head. "I don't know if I can get past her and Dov. If it was anybody but Dov maybe...he was my best friend."

Andy blinked in surprise. "Was? Chris..."

"High on pain killers or not he still crossed a line."Chris snapped pushing his drink aside.

McNally reached over and lightly touched Chris's left arm. "Why don't you start at the beginning?"

Chris sighed and leaned back in the chair. "Dov took too many of the pain killers he got for his back sprain. He and Gail were partnered up going after the Chinese gang."

"And the drugs made him loopy enough to kiss Gail."Andy finished with a shake of her head.

"Plus tell her he loved her."

Andy winced. "Oh Chris..."

"Yeah."Diaz replied wearily saying everything outloud made it real, made it worse. "So what do I do with this?"

* * *

Andy shook her head sadly as she absently traced the rim of her plastic cup. "I'm the last person you should be asking relationship advice from. I finally took a chance with Sam and it backfired."

"What happened?"

"He was going to take an undercover job but it wasn't going to happen for three weeks or so I thought."Andy explained her words coming out rushed. "After I found out Leslie died made me realize how short life was. So I called Sam to see if we could take a chance on us only to receive his voicemail. Turns out the op got moved up to tonight and he was already gone."

"I'm sorry, how'd you find out he was gone?"Chris asked as he retrieved his drink and took a sip.

"Oliver tracked me down. Apparently Sam had time to tell him and not me."Andy replied bitterly. "Guess I don't rank very high any more."

Chris shook his head. "You know that's not true. I've seen how he is around you...you mean a lot to him...more than a partner."

Andy spread her hands. "And yet here I am hearing my partner went undercover second hand."

"Maybe he couldn't tell you...too hard for him to say goodbye to you."Chris suggested. "I know if you were my girl it'd be hard to leave you to go undercover."

Andy smiled at her friend's sweet comment. Gail really screwed things up. "You're a good guy, Chris."

Chris laughed hollowly. "You know what they say about good guys finishing last."

"Don't go there."Andy stated quietly. "Maybe you should give Gail another chance to explain. It's not like she said she stopped loving you."

"Maybe."

Andy yawned and stood. "I know you don't want to go home and I don't blame you. Have an idea."

"What?"Chris asked as he rose to his feet.

Andy grinned. "Sam's couch. His place is going to be empty for at least a few days. I have a key."

"Andy..."

"I don't think he'd mind if he knew the circumstances. Only for a couple days until things cool down. I'll text Gail and Dov and let them know you're okay."

Chris nodded. "Thanks, I appreciate it. I wasn't sure where I was going to go...hadn't thought that far."

"You can buy me coffee tomorrow...er...today. We're both going to need it to get through shift."

Chris smiled. "Deal. I'm going to grab my jacket."

"I'll meet you at the door."Andy replied as she turned and left the cafe.

Minutes later Chris joined her and they exited the gym. Halfway to Sam's Chris fell asleep his head resting against the passenger window.  
Andy shook her head sadly. She really hoped that things worked out for Gail and Chris. For some reason Gail made Chris happy and that was what she wanted for her friend.  
Happiness.

end


End file.
